American Spy: A Novel, Laura Wilkinson, author; Bahni turin, narrator
I tried, on several occasions to get into this book, but to no avail. I found it difficult to follow or enjoy. It was confusing as the time line seemed erratic. Although I tried, I could not identify with any of the characters. The subject matter contained too much detail and dialogue that I could not relate to and I found that the anti-American sentiment, coupled with the emphasis on existing racism was off-putting. The negativity seemed contradictory since the main characters, the Mitchell sisters, seemed devoted to the United States with one enlisting in the Vietnam era and the other becoming a spy for the FBI.
The novel is mostly about one of the two African American sisters who were raised by their father who was in law enforcement and a mother who was possibly a spy. At some point, she basically abandoned the children and her husband, leaving the two girls to be raised by their father. She did remain in touch, but barely.
The story plays out as a letter written by Marie Mitchell, to her two young boys, shortly after there was an attempt on her life because of something she did in the past as an undercover agent. She wants them to understand what has happened and why she has fled America and taken them to live with her mother in Martinique. She wants them to understand more about her life in case she disappears.
I could not identify in any way with Marie’s life, her lifestyle or her choice of friends. I never heard of the country she was sent to in West Africa, as an undercover agent. I did not feel the history was sufficiently explained for me to relate to it well. If it was not based on something supposedly historic, perhaps I could have suspended disbelief, but it is represented as historic fiction. I simply could not warm to any of the characters, either.
Sometimes, themes are placed in books that are irrelevant, and I believe the LGBTQ theme was such a case. Had the book just been about the effort of these two women to break into fields of work that were traditionally white and male oriented, it would have been enough, but there were too many tangents. Using Marie Mitchell as a sexual decoy simply added another unpleasant dimension. I would like to know the true story, if there is one, about these two devoted sisters.
On a positive note, I grew up in or knew of the neighborhoods Marie describes in the New York area, and lived in that time, as well, so I found the memories nostalgic. However, I am not sure why the book has received so many rave reviews other than the fact that it fits very well into the current progressive narrative with which we are being brainwashed daily. I read two thirds of the book and then simply gave up. The over the top Reagan bashing was my breaking point.